Dry-pipe accelerator



A. C. ROWLEY. DRY P1P; Acc'ELERAToR. APPLICATION FILED JUNE H, 1920.

Patented May 17,192

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.'

-L l @7.16 aan@ A. C. HOWLEY.

DRY PIPE ACCELERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1I, 1920.

Patented May 17, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE.

AETHUE C. EoWLEY, 0E PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNoR To GLOBE AUTOMATIC SPEINHLEE COMPANY, 0E PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A

CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

To all whom t may. concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR C. ROWLEY,

'a Citizen of the United States, residing in y reduce to a minimum the time elapsingbetween the reduction of air pressure in the.

system resulting from the opening of a sprinkler head, and the time when the dry pipe Vvalve operates to permit flow of water under pressure into said system.

Myinvention further contemplates a novel deviceof the general type above indicated,

particularly designed to `respond to a relatively slight reduction in air pressure, which shall be certain in action and not` liable to get out of order, the arrangement being such that the parts are self restoring to their set positions after operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide an accelerator designed for use in connection with a dry pipe valve, whose parts shall be so arranged as to automatically establish communication between the sprinkler system andthe intermediate chamber` of the dry Apipefvalve in a minimum time i after there has been a reduction of air pressure in said system such as would be caused bythe opening of a sprinkler head.

These objects and other advantageous ends I attain as hereinafter set forth, reference being had VVto the accompanying drawings, in

which,

Figure `l is a side elevation illustratingV my. invention as applied to a dry pipe valve; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2, Fig. 1, drawn on ak larger scale than said figure' Y l Fig. 3 is a side Y Fig. 2, part of themain casing being broken away to illustrate they detail Construction of the parts; and Y Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4 4, Fig. 2. I Y

In the drawings, l represents the casing k@of a differential drv pipe valve assembly,

. Specication of Letters Patent.

elevation of a portion of` DRY-PIPE ACCELERATOR.

Patented May 17, 1921.

Applcatonled .Tune 11, 1920. Serial No. 388,336.`

opening lc thereinxpermitting communica-l ion between the two-chambers. The inlet from the conduit 2 into the intermediate Chamber 6 is normally Closed by a water clapper or valve 4, and the opening lc is normally Closed by an air clapper or valve 5 connected to the valve 4 by means of a suitable link connection 5a, so that the two valves 4 and 5 will operate in unison. The.

chamber 6 is normally maintained at atmospheric pressure by a drip passage of relatively small cross section (not shown).

The water from the supply system exerts a relatively high pressure on a relatively small area provided by the under sfide of the valve 4, and the air under a considerably lower pressure in the sprinkler system similarly acts on the relatively large area provided by the upper face of the valve 5, which through the connecting mechanism, is designed to normally hold said valve 4 closed against the water pressure.

Obviously when a sprinkler head opens in the system of which the pipe or riser 3 forms a part, it is highly desirable that water from the conduit 2 shall be delivered to said system at the earliest possible moment, and my invention is particularly designed` to accelerate the opening of the valve 5 by therintroduction to the intermediate chamber 6 of'air under pressure, which shall act to hasten the release and opening of the valve 4. For' this purpose I mount adjacent the dry pipe valve a casing preferably made in three parts, 7, 8 and 9 of which the first is connected through a conduit 10 with the intermediate chamber 6 of said valve.

In the bottom 12 of the first section 7 is a passage in which is a valve seat designed to coact with a vertically guided valve 13, and between the sections 7 and 8 is mounted a structure 14 having a central opening for the passage and guidance of a stem 15 whereby the valve 13 is operatively connected to a relatively heavy float 16, vertically movable in a chamber 24 of the casing section 8. y

rlhe section8, in Aaddition to the chamber 24 for the float 16, has to one side of the same a second chamber 17 whose upper portion is connected through a pipe 18 with the upper part of the chamber 24, and said conduit has also connected to it a branch 20 leading to the upper chamber of the dry pipe valve or to that part of the system in which is confined the air whose pressure is released or reduced by the opening of a 'sprinkler head. The connection between the conduits 18 and 20 is such that while the latter has free communication with the chamber 24, it can communicate with the chamber 17 only through a relatively restricted opening preferably formed in an element 21 connected in said conduit 20, so that while the air under pressure from the upper part of the dry pipe valve or riser 3 may rapidly flow in large volume into the chamber 24, it can flow at but a relatively slow rate into the chamber 17.

Said chamber 17, through an opening- 22, is in free communication with the interior of a relatively large chamber 23 provided by the section 9 of the casi-ng, and the chamber 24 has connected to its lowest portion one branch 25 of a U-shaped conduit, whcsesecond ,branch 26 extends vertically upward into the chamber 17 to a height above the level Y of the bottom of the chamber 24.

This second branch 26 is preferably provided with a bottom valve seat 28 and a top valve seat 29 for a check valve 3() in the form of a glass or relatively light metal ball, and the conduit 25-26 normally contains a body of mercury or equivalent liquid which extends to a level slightly below the bottom of the float or weight 16, when this occupies its lowest position with the valve 18 resting upon and closing the seat in the passage 11. The lower end of tie chamber 28 has an opening normally closed by a plug 31 held in place by a conveniently removable clamp 82.

With the above described arrangement of parts, the two clappers or valves 4 and 5 of the dry pipe valve are normally closed and the ball 30 rests upon the top surface of the mercury in the branch 26. The air under pressure from the sprinkler system supplied through the pipe 20, fills the chambers 17 and 28 as well as the chamber 24, while the chamber of the casing section 7 is at atmos pheric pressure g-the passage of air from.

the chamber 24 to this latter chamber being prevented by the valve 13 which is held seated by the float 16.

lf now there is such a reduction of the air pressure in the riser 8 as would be caused by the opening of a sprinkler head, a corresponding reduction of air pressure occurs at once in the chamber 24, owing to the connection provided by the pipes 18 and 20, between this chamber and said riser. Since however' the container or tank provided by the chambers 23 and 17 isiilled with air at the relatively high pressure normally existing in the riser, the expansion of this air acts upon the mercury in the branch 26 of the U-tube and forces it into the chamber 24 as soon as there is a relatively slight reduction of the air pressure therein. As a result of the rise of mercury in this latter chamber, the iioat 16 is buoyed up and rises, opening the valve 13 and permitting free flow of air from the riser 3 through the pipes 20 and 18, into the chamber 24 through the passage 11 and pipe 10, into the intermediate chamber 6 of the dry pipe valve.

The sudden rise of pressure in said intermediate chamber at once unseats the air clapper 5 and hastens the release and opening of the water clapper 4, so that in a typical case water is supplied Vto the sprinkler system when the air pressure therein has fallen three pounds below normal, instead of being withheld until such pressure had fallen ten pounds or more.

The above action, occurringby reason of the expansion of the air in the chambers 17 and 28, results from the fact that said air cannot escape in any material amount through the restricted opening in the fitting 21, and the discharge of all of the mercury from the U tube 25-26 is prevented by the valve 30 engaging the lower seat 28. Should there be a return flow of water from the dry pipe valve through the pipe 10 into the section 7 and chamber 24, such as might force the mercury in the U-tube toward the chamber 17, the escape of said mercury from the branch 26 is prevented by the valve 36 engaging its topmost seat 29. @bviously when the flow of water through the dry pipe valve ceases and the system is restored to its normal condition the mercury in the pipe 25-26 returns to its normal level, preferably ljust below the bottom of saidweight, and the valve 18 is automatically seatedgby the float 16. Y

One advantage of the above described construction resides in the fact'that there must be an actual flow of air from the system, such as would occur by reason of the opening of a sprinkler head, since the device will not operate if the air pressure is reduced by a mere gradual leakage. @wing to the fact that the dry pipe valve is caused to function when the pressure in the system has been reduced by but a relatively small amount, it is obvious that water is delivered to an open sprinkler head in a much shorter time than would ordinarily be possible.

l claimsy 1. An accelerator consisting of a valve controlling the flow of air under pressure to the intermediate chamber of a dry pipe Y ing said liquid to act on the float to open said valve when a reduction ofthe air'pressure occurs in the air chamber of thedry pipe valve'. Y v

2.V An accelerator consisting of a valve controlling low of air under pressure to the intermediatechamber of a dryppipe valve;

an air container connected to the air chamberof the dry pipe valve; and a yliquid operated device actuated by the expansionrof the air in said container when the pressure falls inthe drypipe valve7 `for causing opening of the air controlling valveand the delivery of air under pressure to the intermediate chamber of the dry pipe valve.

3. An'accelerator' consisting of a valve controlling flow of air under pressure to the intermediate chamber of a dry pipe valve; a float chamber; an expansion chamber; a conduit connecting said chambers g; a iioat connected to the controlling valve and operative in the float chamber; liquid in said conduit; and a second conduit providing a relativelj7 restricted connection between the air chamber of the dry pipe valve and said expansion chamber.

4. In an accelerator the combination of a valve controlling the iiow of air under pressure from a sprinkler system to the intermediate chamber of a dry pipe valve; a

.Weighted float normally holding said valve closed; and means Jfor causing liquid to act on the float to open the valve when a predetermined reduction of air pressure occurs in the sprinkler system.

5. In an accelerator the combination of a valve controlling the flow of air under pressure from a sprinkler system tothe intermediate chamber of a dry pipe valve; a`

weighted fioat normally holding -said valve closed; with means for causing liquid to act on the float to open the valve when a predetermined reduction of air pressure occurs l in the sprinkler system, consisting of an expansion chamber, a chamber for the float, and a liquid containing conduit connecting said chambers.

6. The combination in an accelerator of a casing having at least three chambers of which two are connected by arvalve seated passage; a valve for said passage; a float in one of the chambers normally holding the valve closed; a conduit for connecting two of the chambers with a source of air under pressure and including a relatively restricted passage for preventing rapid ilow of air from one of the chambers; a conduit connecting the latter chamber with the float chamber; and liquid in said conduit for acting on the float to open the valve when different pressures exist in said two chambers. Y 7. The combination of a differential dry pipe valve; a casing having three chambers trolled by said float for controlling passage of -air from the iloat chamber to the first chamber;'an expansion chamber; a liquid containing conduit connecting the float chamber and the expansion chamber; and a conduit including a relatively restricted portion for supplyingair under pressure to the expansion chamber.

8. The combination in an accelerator of an expansion chamber.; a float chamber ad.- jacent thereto; a U-shaped conduit having one branch opening into the lowerV portion of the iloat chamber and a second branch opening `into the expansion chamber; liquid insaid conduit; a valve controlled by said float; with means for delivering air under pressure to the expansion chamber.

9. The combination in an accelerator of an expansion chamber; afloat chamber adjacent thereto; a U-shaped conduit having one branch opening into the lower lportion of the iioat chamber andv a second branch opening into the expansion chamber; liquid in said conduit; a valve controlled by said float; means for delivering air under pressure to the expansion chamber; with a check valve in said U-shaped conduit mounted to prevent iow of liquid therefrom into the expansion chamber.

10. The combination in an accelerator of an expansion chamber; a float chamber adjacent thereto; a U-shaped conduit, having a branch opening into the lower portion of the float chamber and a second branch opening into the expansion chamber; liquid in said conduit; a valve controlled by said float; means for deliverin air under pressure to the expansion cham er; with a check valve in said U-shaped conduit mounted to prevent more than a predetermined ow of liquid into the expansion chamber.

11. The combination in an accelerator of an expansion chamber; a float chamber adjacent thereto; a U-shaped conduit having one branch opening into the lower portion f of the oat chamber and a second branch opening into the expansion chamber; liquid in said conduit; a valve controlled by said float; means for delivering air under pressure to the expansion chamber; with a check valve in said U-shaped conduit arranged to prevent flow of liquid into the expansion chamber and also to limit the flow of liquid into the float chamber.

12. The combination in an accelerator of a casing having three chambers of which two are connected by a valve seated passage; a valve for said passage; a weighted float suspended from said valve for nor mally keeping it closed; a U-shaped conduit leading from the float chamber to the third chamber; liquid in said conduit; and a conduit having a relatively restricted portion for supplying air to the third chamber, While from.

13. An accelerator consisting of a valve controlling the flow of air under pressure to the intermediate chamber of a dry pipe valve; a float for operating said controlling valve; a body of relatively heavy liquid; with means for causing said liquid to act on the float to open said valve when a re duction of the air pressure occurs in the air chamber of the drypipe valve.

14:. An accelerator consisting of a valve controlling the flow of air under pressure to the intermediate chamber of a dry pipe valve; a float for operating said` controlling valve; a body of mercury; and means for preventing its sudden escape there` causing said mercury to raise the float and open the valve when a reduction of the air pressure occurs in the air chamber of the dry pipe valve.

l5. The combination in an accelerator of a casing having chambers of which two are connected by a valve seated passage; a valve for said passage; a Weighted {ioat in one of' the chambers operative on the valve to normally keep it closed; a U-shaped conduit leading from the float chamber to the third chamber; a body of mercury in said conduit; and means for delivering air under pressure to the third chamber toV cause said mercury to operate on the float and open the valve.

ARTHUR o. ROWLEY. 

